While the stalwarts of AKA – including perennial UFC contenders Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck and Mike Swick – have long remained constant, the gym has progressed as a draw for both veterans and newcomers alike. Strikeforce heavyweights Daniel Cormier and Herschel Walker are among the new high-profile members of the gym, but Wilcox says there are plenty more.

His only problem with the additions? They took the easy road through the front door.

“Bob Cook and Javier Vazquez and everybody think it’s funny to put you in there with the veterans,” Wilcox said. “My first week [at AKA], I sparred Fitch in the first round, then Phil Baroni, and they ended me with Josh Thomson.”

These days, Wilcox says the application process is a little easier.

“I go to Jav, and he gets all these big old heavyweights, and I’m like, ‘Jav, how are you going to baby these guys? You threw me in there first week out,'” Wilcox joked. “The hazing has kind of stopped now. I’ve got to bring that back up.”

Inside the gym, Wilcox says Velasquez’s win over Brock Lesnar has provided additional encouragement to every professional fighter. That said, Wilcox says the training is status quo. After all, it worked for Velasquez.

“It lifted the spirits of everybody, but we really haven’t changed at all,” Wilcox said. “It seems like the same old practices. It’s a nice, hard grind everyday.”

A former professional bodybuilder, the muscular Wilcox has won eight of his past nine fights and is currently riding a four-fight win streak. While Ribeiro has struggled to a 1-3 mark in his past five four outings, he’ll still likely provide Wilcox’s stiffest test to date.

And while his teammate, Josh Thomson, is a top contender in Strikeforce’s lightweight division, Wilcox knows a win over Ribeiro may earn him a slot in the company’s title-challenger discussion.

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